As already mentioned, I finally got the chance yesterday to join my good friends Woddy and Jack on the "beach" of the Great Salt Lake for some truly enjoyable buggy action. For being three states from the true coast I am awestruck (might one say, Windstruck?) by how good our beach buggying is! Not necessarily the smoothest of rides near the entrance to the strand due to high foot traffic because we don't get the tidal action of an ocean beach, but the sand was quite hard, relatively smooth, and really, really big! It is possible to go many minutes on a single tack line before turning around. Yesterday I went a mile before turning around and there was a whole lot more sand in front of me. Hard to judge exactly how much but I wouldn't be surprised in the least if there were several miles left. Another day with higher winds and buggy speed (I was only going about 5-15 mph on that run) I will try and go till there ain't no more sand to ride.

Oh, at long last I put my BigFoots through their proper paces, finally getting them in the sand where they belong. They are certainly serviceable on the Ivanpah playa but they were born for the shore of the GSL! :karate:

We need to build SWATK Utah chapter!

Trying to look at it on google maps. Which side of the lake do you ride on?

Quote: Originally posted by rtz

Trying to look at it on google maps. Which side of the lake do you ride on?

We have found two good places, both just a bit West of the SLC airport, accessed from I-80W.

https://goo.gl/maps/c1vaXDqvshk

https://goo.gl/maps/UEMhXn8jgjS2

The second one is a little harder to find. There is a pull off (not a formal exit) along the North side of I-80W at (I believe) Mile Marker 94. A rough dirt road goes from the pull out under the railroad tracks a couple of hundred yards away and then it opens up. This is a farther drive from town but has the advantage of being suitable for just about any wind direction. The first one closer to town is best served by winds coming from a Northerly direction. Southerlies get blocked by some land masses.

Lovely day on the beach Saturday.
It started off a little low on the wind but after a couple of hours plodding around the wind started to build.
Really great to see Steve on the beach again and another guy who rocked up who we had not seen before.
Jack had a little bit of a OBE which scraped his hands a little but nothing broken.
Top speed for the day was 37.7mph on the 9m Chrono.
Not too bad seeing as at that speed my teeth were being rattled a bit.
Looking forward to the Flying spot drying out and getting down there for a nice flat beach session.

What about the large expanse of land over to the west of the lake area?

I'm curious as to what exactly the beach is made of. Is it salt, sand or dirt? I would think salt, but don't know.

Quote: Originally posted by rtz

What about the large expanse of land over to the west of the lake area?

I think I know where you mean. I too looked at that open expanse on the map. Slapbasswoody, Jack, and I did drive out that way when we were first exploring the Great Salt Lake. A couple of things. First, it is a long drive from SLC. I'm 30 minutes East of SLC so for me the distance starts to be an issue. Second, access to open, flat spaces may be an issue. We drove a long way in on some dirt roads looking for open spaces and got skunked.

Fact is, the two places we've found provide huge expanses and they work for virtually any wind direction, so why keep driving?

Quote: Originally posted by Randy

I'm curious as to what exactly the beach is made of. Is it salt, sand or dirt? I would think salt, but don't know.

That's a good question Randy. You may have noticed that I usually write "beach" in quotation marks. It's sort of strange. Definitely sand, but it's got a whole lot of salt mixed into it, a whole lot. The top has sort of a crust. Same sort of crust as you get on snow after it rains and then freezes. It actually crunches a bit when you ride over it. What can be a little bit frustrating (particularly for SS enthusiasts like me) is that the crust flakes up in flat wafers which can grab bridle lines. This final issue is just a mild irritant, far outweighed by having a huge expanse of "beach" within an hour drive of my house (30 minutes for Slapbasswoody and Jack).

Inland beaches are hard to come by. I'd gladly put up with getting a bridle grabbed once in a while (which happens all the time anyway in the weedy patches I ride on.)

Sounds like fun, guys! Too bad I didn't know you guys back in '05-'06 when I was living in Layton.